Saturday, January 4, 2020

2019 Maryland Bicycle Related Fatalities in Review

This year (2019) was another bad year for bicycle related fatalities in Maryland, with nine (9) people on bicycles being killed on Maryland roadways as of  31 December 2019. While the 2019 numbers were better than 2016 and 2017, they’re still not good – good would be ZERO. Better is small consolation to the families of those killed.

I've been tracking bicycle related fatalities in Maryland for four years now. I started when I became curious about a rash of deaths in the summer of 2016. In 2016, things were rough all over, with 840 bicyclist killed nationwide – the highest number since 1991. Pedestrian deaths were 5,987 nationwide – the highest number since 1990; increasing by 9.0 percent. 

Bias in Reporting

Before you read any further, take a moment to realize that in the vast majority of fatal and non-fatal crashes the reporting is one-sided – pure and simple. The bias is strong. 

Firstly, the person on the bicycle either can’t give their side of the story because they’re dead or they’re in no shape to give it. Maybe they can’t even remember what happened because of the trauma. So who’s in good shape to tell what happened?  The person driving the automobile – that’s who. Then look at pretty much any news article or police media release on bike vs. car crash and look for the bias…it’s not hard to find it.  Hon, your bias is showing.   

Cyclist vs. Person on Bike

You’ll notice I don’t regularly use the word cyclist – I use ‘person on bike’ or ‘people on bikes’ or the person driving the car. Using the word pedestrian, cyclist, driver move the responsibility away from the person and make the victim, the person somehow less – you didn’t kill a cyclist, you killed a person – a son, a daughter, a husband, a wife, a person – another human being. 

You'll also notice that I don't mention if the person on the bicycle was wearing a helmet. Until they invent some super-duper helmet that repels cars and drunk/high drivers, I'll not mention the presence of a helmet. 
 
Maryland Bicycle Related Fatalities (2010 to 2019)
  • 2010 - 8
  • 2011 - 5
  • 2012 - 5
  • 2013 - 7
  • 2014 - 6
  • 2015 - 10
  • 2016 - 16*
  • 2017 - 12* 
  • 2018 - 8*
  • 2019 - 9*

* Fatalities from media reporting. Official numbers may end up being higher

2019 Bicycle Related Fatalities (Read: Date / Name / Age / Area) 
  • 5 May 2019 / Lennel Boone / 55 / Glen Burnie, MD
  • 26 May 2019 / Richard Shrock / 62 / Princeess Anne, MD
  • 17 June 2019 / Michael Larry Hughes Jr. / 52 / Hampden, MD
  • 17 July 2019 / Joseph Hickey / 51 / Easton, MD
  • 21 July 2019 / Diane Centeno Deshields / 59 / Johnsville, MD 
  • 30 July 2019 / Wayne Richardson / 58 / Baltimore, MD 
  • 31 July 2019 / Jacob Cassell / 17 / Bethesda, MD 
  • 9 October 2019 / John Buillickson / 39 / Brandywine, MD 
  • 27 October 2019 / Andrew Brown / 28 / White Marsh, MD 

2019 was a little weird in that the majority of the people on bikes killed were killed during daylight hours. In 2017 and 2018 it was just the opposite.  Not sure what’s the story there, but an interesting tidbit. Other items of note, seven (7) of the nine (9) people killed were men and five (5) of the (9) were between the age of 51 and 60. 
Where The Numbers Come From 

I track these fatalities through media reporting - which can be a little difficult at times - but it provides us, the cycling community, some feedback on what's happening on the roads in a fairly timely basis. Government reporting can be a year or two behind and then you just get the statistics – not the person on the bike, not the mechanics of the crash – not accident – crash, and certainly not the personal impact on the community. 
Sources: